Rental pool: one pot of room income, split by a key rather than by your own bookings
A rental pool is an arrangement in an aparthotel or branded-residence building under which one operator lets the units of all participating owners together, collects their room income in one pot and, after the deductions and its own share set in the contract, divides the rest among the owners by a fixed key, usually by unit category or size.
Your payment follows the whole pool, not your unit's bookings: a sea-view unit that sold out in August and an empty courtyard unit in the same category receive the same amount.
No Georgian law, resolution or regulator's act defines the term. Our searches of Matsne on 2 November 2026 for "გაქირავების პული", "პულის სისტემა" and "rental pool" found nothing. A pool exists only through the owner's contract with the operator, governed by the Civil Code. No Georgian aparthotel we searched publishes its full pool formula. For how the money flows, see our guide to aparthotel rental pools.
Lease, mandate or trust: the Civil Code contracts that can carry a pool
Three contract types can sit under a pool, and they answer differently the two questions owners ask: can I leave, and what happens when I sell?
| Contract | What the Code says | Effect for a pool owner |
|---|---|---|
| Usufructuary lease, იჯარა (Art. 581) | Rent may be set in money, in kind or by other agreed means; tenancy rules apply unless Arts. 581 to 606 differ | A pool share can be the rent; through Art. 581(2), Art. 572 makes a buyer of the unit take the landlord's place (Art. 209 says the same for a let flat) |
| Mandate, დავალება (Art. 709) | The agent acts in the principal's name and at the principal's expense | Art. 720(1): either side may end it at any time, and a waiver of that right is void; an owner who ends it repays necessary expenses and, if paid, work done (720(3)) |
| Trust of property, საკუთრების მინდობა (Art. 724) | The trustee manages in its own name at the settlor's risk and expense (Art. 725(1)) | Art. 729 applies the mandate rules; whether the Art. 720 exit follows is for a lawyer |
A pool written as a lease binds the next owner, so a buyer inherits it; one written as a mandate can in principle be ended despite a lock-in clause. How courts treat contracts mixing lease and management terms is not confirmed. Our rental pool guide covers terms and exits in practice.
Who withholds tax from a pool payment, and at what rate
The Tax Code taxes the payment, not the pool, and the rate turns on whether the payer is a tourist enterprise: under Art. 26-1, a company that builds the hotel, sells its units and has them used as hotel rooms.
| Payer | Rate | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Tourist enterprise for the hotel | 5% at source, final | Art. 26-1 (status per hotel from the Revenue Service, procedure in Government Resolution No 279 of 23 June 2015); Art. 133-2 |
| Same, owner's free stays | Exempt up to 60 days a year | Art. 82(1)(z6) |
| No such status | 20% default | Art. 81(1); the 5% in Art. 81(2) covers only residential space let for living, and Ruling No 143, issued on sales, says a room within a hotel is not a residential flat |
Withholding by an operator without the status is not confirmed; ask an accountant. No public list of status holders exists that we found, so ask for the Revenue Service decision. See our guides to rental income tax and the aparthotel model in Batumi.
A sales page for Ramada Batumi by Archi, with figures "as of 2026", claimed "Rental income is taxed at just 5%" and "No capital gains tax applies after two years of ownership". Both are the seller's claims: the first needs tourist-enterprise status, and the second conflicts with Ruling No 143, which treats hotel units as non-residential.
The Law on Tourism and its timeshare chapter from 1 June 2027
The Law on Tourism, Law No 3969 adopted on 15 December 2023 and last amended on 28 May 2026, regulates timeshare, not pools. Its timeshare chapter, Arts. 38 to 47, applies from 1 June 2027 (Art. 51):
- Art. 2(მ): a timeshare contract lasts over 1 year and gives nights of accommodation for a fee.
- Art. 40(3): such a product may not be advertised as an investment.
- Arts. 42 and 44: 14 calendar days to withdraw, with no advance payment before then.
- Art. 47: registration in the Public Registry is mandatory, and a registered contract survives a change of owner.
Whether a pool with owner nights counts as a timeshare is not confirmed; our property law tracker follows it.
How "pool system" reads in a Batumi listing, and on the extract
No Georgian pool contract is published; the clearest wording is in two Realting listings updated on 1 February 2026, now "Sold or out of date":
- Wyndham Residences Batumi: "Pool system 60/40 (distribution of profits from the gross income from the use of all hotel rooms of its category.)", "Lease agreement with Wyndham for 20 years!", "60 days for your own vacation per year!" and "Income up to 14% per annum!"
- Radisson Blu Residences Batumi: the same pool line and 14%, a 20-year lease with Radisson and "28 days for your own vacation per year!"
Field by field: the owners' share comes first; the base is a whole room category, not one unit; owner days differ between identical splits; 14% is an advertised "up to" figure, not a fixed rate; and the lessee, brand, local operator or developer, is not named.
A listing on Adlia Street, updated 3 December 2025, uses 60/40 for something else: 60% "of the profit" of "the apartment", plus USD 0.7 per m² a month for the complex, capped at USD 35. Its English text sends 40% to the "Criminal Code", apparently a mistranslation of "management company": rely on the Georgian or Russian contract. A sponsored Interpressnews article for Pontus Rotana, 10 April 2025, pools without the word: income "based on their share of the entire hotel's rooms revenue".
On the registry extract the unit is a separate cadastral unit, often a hotel room or non-residential space. A lease of more than 1 year with a company can be registered there; a mandate is not.
Worked example: one 60/40 key under three occupancy figures
Take a 30 m² unit offered with "pool system 60/40", read literally: owners get 60% of the category's gross room income, and the unit counts as one room. We deduct the Adlia charge, USD 252 a year, for illustration. This is our calculation, not expected income.
Inputs come from Galt & Taggart's selected Batumi hotels: 67% at USD 103 for January to September 2025, and 31% at USD 81 in the first quarter of 2026, as reported by Kedaro News. The middle row applies Savills' non-Georgian finding that programme occupancy often runs about 20 points below the hotel.
| Occupancy, rate | Gross | Owners' 60% | Net at 5% | Net at 20% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 67%, USD 103 | USD 25,189 | USD 15,113 | USD 14,106 | USD 11,839 |
| 47%, USD 103 | USD 17,670 | USD 10,602 | USD 9,820 | USD 8,229 |
| 31%, USD 81 | USD 9,165 | USD 5,499 | USD 4,972 | USD 4,147 |
Set against 30 m² at USD 1,865 per m², Galt & Taggart's 2025 Batumi average for a turnkey new-build flat rather than an aparthotel price, or USD 55,950, the middle row gives 17.6% or 14.7%. That beats every advertised yield claim we found, 12.2% to 14.3%, so hotel samples do not transfer to pool units, and the 9-month figure leaves out October to December. The first-quarter row gives 8.9% or 7.4%. Occupancy moves the result more than the split; tax status alone is worth about USD 1,590 a year in the middle row. Our comparison of an aparthotel unit and your own apartment goes further.
Pool, per-unit split, fixed return or timeshare: telling them apart
| Arrangement | Income follows | What you hold |
|---|---|---|
| Rental pool | The whole category or building | A registered unit and a profit share |
| Per-unit revenue share | Your own unit's bookings | A registered unit and a share of its own profit |
| Advertised fixed return | A set % of the price for 1 to 5 years | A registered unit and a promise from whoever signs it |
| Timeshare | No income | Paid nights, not a unit |
According to the Batumi broker BD Group, once a 7% to 9% fixed period ends, income can drop by 30% to 40%. A property management company lets one owner's flat for that owner; a homeowners' association shares costs of common property by area under the law; the building type is under aparthotel.
The term in five languages
| Language | Rental pool | Contract of mandate | Trust management |
|---|---|---|---|
| Georgian | გაქირავების პული | დავალების ხელშეკრულება | საკუთრების მინდობა |
| English | rental pool | contract of mandate | trust management |
| Russian | арендный пул | договор поручения | доверительное управление |
| Hebrew | מאגר השכרה | חוזה שליחות | ניהול בנאמנות |
| Arabic | مجمّع التأجير | عقد الوكالة | الإدارة الائتمانية |
We found no Georgian contract text that names a pool; contracts name the relationship by type instead, such as იჯარის ხელშეკრულება or საკუთრების მინდობის ხელშეკრულება.
Warning signs in pool offers
- A split with no base. 60% of gross room income and 60% of profit after costs are very different sums.
- No room category. You cannot tell whether your unit shares the pot with suites or studios.
- A fixed figure beside the pool. Listings have advertised "Guaranteed income of 10% for the first 5 years!" and "Buyback guarantee!" (Wyndham Grand Residences Batumi Gonio "Aqua", Realting, updated 18 July 2025). These are the advertiser's words; the promise is only as strong as the company that signs it.
- 5% tax with no status named. Without a tourist-enterprise decision the final 5% does not apply.
- No contract type. Lease, mandate and trust give different exits.
- No payout record. We found no public report of a Batumi pool failing to pay, nor any payout history.
To be added by the team: documents to add: a redacted Georgian pool contract showing the contract type and allocation key, a redacted owner statement with the 5% withholding line, and a registry extract of a hotel unit with the operating lease recorded.
How to check a rental pool before you sign
Get the Georgian contract
Not the English listing or brochure.
Name the contract type
Lease, mandate or trust decides the exit.
Find the key and the base
Which category, gross or net, which deductions.
Ask for the status decision
Tourist-enterprise status means 5% at source.
Rerun the numbers
Use a low-season occupancy, not the hotel peak.
Check the extract
See whether a lease is registered on the unit.
Frequently asked questions
What is a rental pool in Georgia?
An aparthotel arrangement in which the operator pools the room income of participating units and splits the owners' part by a fixed key.
Does Georgian law regulate rental pools?
No specific rule was found. Rights come from the contract: a lease (Civil Code Art. 581), a mandate (Art. 709) or a trust (Art. 724).
What does "pool system 60/40" mean?
In Batumi listings of February 2026, 60% of the gross income of all rooms in the unit's category goes to owners.
Can I leave a rental pool early?
A mandate can be ended at any time (Art. 720(1)); a lease runs for its term; for a trust, ask a lawyer.
Does the pool contract pass to a buyer?
If it is a lease, yes: under Arts. 572 and 209 the buyer takes the landlord's place.
How is pool income taxed?
5% at source and final with a tourist enterprise; otherwise 20% by default, to be confirmed by an accountant.
Is a rental pool a timeshare?
Not confirmed. The timeshare rules of the Law on Tourism apply from 1 June 2027.
How many nights can I use my unit?
What the contract says; two Batumi listings offered 28 and 60 days a year.
Sources
- Civil Code of Georgia, Arts. 209, 572, 581, 709, 720 and 724 to 729, Matsne (accessed 2 November 2026)
- Law of Georgia on Tourism, No 3969, Matsne
- Tax Code of Georgia and Public Ruling No 143, 14 May 2026, Matsne
- Government Resolution No 279, 23 June 2015, Matsne
- Wyndham Residences Batumi and Radisson Blu Residences Batumi, Realting
- Wyndham block, Adlia Street and Wyndham Grand Residences Batumi Gonio "Aqua", Realting
- Passive income from real estate in Batumi, BD Group, 11 February 2026
- Real estate investments in Batumi, Interpressnews, 10 April 2025
- Ramada Batumi sales page, OPR
- Tourism Market Watch 3Q25, Galt & Taggart, and first-quarter 2026 hotel occupancy, Kedaro News, 21 April 2026
- Branded residences and rental programmes, Savills, 12 October 2023
- Sector snapshot: Batumi residential real estate, Investor.ge, 20 April 2026
Change log
- - Glossary entry published from the Civil Code of Georgia, the Law on Tourism, the Tax Code, Public Ruling No 143, Government Resolution No 279, Realting, BD Group, Interpressnews, OPR, Galt & Taggart, Kedaro News, Savills and Investor.ge.